Killdeer Pond is not always so quiet. Especially on those mornings the water level goes down, and the fishing is good we can have what I like to call a“ White Bird Attack,” a combination of mostly white birds— great egrets, snowy egrets, tri-colored herons, wood storks, white ibis and gulls— that descend on the pond en masse and terrorize the little fish that have no place to go to escape the feeding frenzy that is underway.
I don’ t want you to think that white birds devouring fish are the only“ attacks” staged by the wildlife here on Kiawah. There are others. In the late winter or early spring, there are attacks by none other than American robins. Some mornings the robins assemble in large flocks to eat the overripe wax myrtle berries. The interesting thing, however, is that the berries are fermented and contain alcohol, so by afternoon the robins actually get drunk from eating the berries. It is quite a sight to see them staggering around, but I think they like it.
The robins are not the only birds that gather in flocks and attack the shrubbery. Cedar waxwings are famous for the way they can devour all the berries on a bush in a matter of a couple of minutes. On the left is a flock of perhaps 50 eating holly berries— one of their favorites.
There are also flocks of bluebirds. Who knows what they are“ flocking” about since they eat mostly insects. These I observed on my back porch birdbath one afternoon. Maybe they are just thirsty.
WINTER / SPRING 2017 • VOLUME 37
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